Do your snails, ma'am? Japan's slimy new beauty treatment

They have long been regarded as garden pests. But snails, it seems, have a use after all - crawling across faces as part of a new beauty treatment in Japan.

Live snails, hailed as an elixir for youthful, beautiful skin, take centre stage in an unusual ''snail facial'' launching in Tokyo.

Snails are placed directly onto the faces of reclining clients, leaving trails of mucus slime in their wake. The secreted mucus is key to the facial, as it reportedly contains a beauty-boosting cocktail of proteins, anti-oxidants and hyaluronic acid, which help skin retain moisture, reduce inflammation and remove dead skin.

''Snail slime can help the recovery of skin cells on the face, so we expect the snail facial to help heal damaged skin,'' said Yoko Minami, sales manager at Clinical Salon, the flagship outlet of the Japanese spa operator, Ci:z.Labo.

It is at present home to five snails, kept in a small clear container where they are fed organic vegetables, including carrots, Japanese ''komatsuna'' greens, spinach and Swiss chard.

Spa staff said that the snails were bought from an organic snail breeder in Japan and are fed organically to ensure they are clean and healthy before being placed on faces.

The live snails are the central part of a 60-minute treatment called the Celebrity Escargot Course, costing about $270, which starts with faces being washed before the snails are gently placed on the cheeks and forehead and allowed to move around as they please. This is followed by a series of massages, masks and electrical pulse machines using creams infused with snail mucus to ensure that the live secretions fully penetrate the skin.

Snail-related products are becoming more common in the beauty industry, with a string of international skin products containing snail mucus and high-profile aficionados reportedly including Katie Holmes, the American actress.

Over the past two years, snail face creams, serums and masks have surged in popularity, in particular in Japan and South Korea, regions already famed for such unusual beauty fads as nightingale faeces facials and live fish pedicures.

Telegraph, London

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